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The City of El Reno will seek to recover costs associated with a 3.8 million-gallon water leak at a bitcoin mining operation in drought-stricken Canadian County, officials said Tuesday
The multi-day leak disrupted the county-seat community of about 20,000. The Canadian County Courthouse and El Reno Public Schools closed for several days owing to low water pressure. The leak prompted a widespread search of the city that involved citizens and city staff that eventually traced to a property south of Interstate 40 owned by Athlon BT, a bitcoin mining company.
But while the leak was eventually found, the company that owned the site turned out to be operating in violation of building and fire codes that had not been enforced, Mayor Steven Jensen and interim city manager Ken Brown said Tuesday.
“We failed,” Brown said.
When the mining site was under construction in 2023, Brown said the city issued a stop-work order owing to electrical, construction and fire safety violations.
But Brown said no one from the city ever followed up to confirm Athlon BT had brought its site up to code. As a result, the company operated without further inspection for about three years before the water leak, which was traced to a private hydrant connected to the city’s infrastructure.
“The assumption was that the stop-work order was clearly in place, and the assumption was that people would respect that stop-work order,” Brown said. “Just like we have stop signs up. If you run a stop sign, we expect you to stop. So we failed in that area. And there are some things that we’re correcting now. Unfortunately, we can’t go back to 2023. I think we’re looking at it now. It’s now 2026. I think we can assure this: We’ve identified some barriers, and through this, we’ve learned some things about ourselves as well.”
Site is shut down
The bitcoin mining operation at 801 Jensen Road West has been shut down pending a Sept. 14 hearing. On Tuesday, there was little activity on the property, which is fenced off and monitored by cameras. It includes about a dozen structures housing servers. A riding lawnmower and U-Haul truck were also present, along with signs posted by the city saying the site has been condemned.
Jensen and Brown said the city will seek to recover costs related to the water lost, as well as overtime for municipal and school district employees who assisted in the days-long search for the the football team got involved, Jensen said
“We want the people to know that our water system is fully operational and was through this whole deal,” the mayor said. “Did we lose pressure? Yes, we did. But I can’t say thank you enough to Ken Brown, all of our city staff, our workers. It was truly all hands on deck. And a thank you to the citizens of El Reno who helped us.”
Little is known about the company operating the mining operation. Athlon BT’s website has posted a “maintenance” notice for days. Calls to a San Jose, CA phone number listed on an archived version of the company’s website were not answered.
While <a href="https://xpertsstudio.com/crypto-market-faces-two-risks-as-september-begins/” title=”Crypto Market Faces Two Risks as September Begins”>cryptocurrency infrastructure also carries rerscale data centers that have stirred controversy in Piedmont, Yukon, Pittsburg County and other communities around the state. Those projects are much larger, built to store and process data used in AI applications and cloud platforms. Bitcoin mining sites are focused on solving cryptographic puzzles on blockchains, and they can be shut down quickly in peak electrical periods
Brown said the city’s community development team had been in touch with the mining site’s owners, but he did not elaborate on those conversations. Instead, he emphasized that the city’s water infrastructure is functioning normally again after some areas of the city lost pressure. He said those responsible will be held accountable for the costs.
“The public needs to know that there will not be any cost to the taxpayers associated with this,” he said. “We will bill the property owner for any of the costs associated with overtime, labor, whatever; we’ll be able to bill the property owner for that.”
Leak highlights pressure on water resources
Canadian County’s Summer 2026 water leak saga could not have come at a worse time.
With temperatures soaring above 100 for 24 days in August and rain just a pleasant memory, El Reno, like all of central and western Oklahoma, is bone dry. The waste of nearly 4 million gallons of water feels particularly acute.
Water has become a significant issue for communities in Oklahoma, and with questions about long-term supply and projected growth, some believe the state’s water future is uncertain — at best.
Jensen said Tuesday that El Reno has tried upgrade its water infrastructure in recent years, sometimes replacing lines installed in 1895.
“We’re a growing city; we’ve added over 600 homes,” Jensen said. “So we’re going to have to continue to work on our water system. And that’s a challenge every city in the state faces: water. And really, in the United States, the cities that have water rights are going to be the ones that grow. The ones that don’t have it will not be as successful.”
Jensen said El Reno buys about 20 percent of its water from Oklahoma City. He said he’s been told OKC’s reservoirs are down 10 to 15 inches from normal at this point in the year.
“We’re in a major drought,” he said. “Canadian County, and on the far west, it’s even worse. We’re in a majorD3 or D4 drought. And that drought goes all the way from here to the Rocky Mountains north to Canada and the Cascades to the northwest. If you drive across the rivers through here, the North Canadian is dry. The South Canadian is dry. The Quichita and Cimmaron have very limited water in them. The Arkansas River coming out of Colorado is extremely low.”
The immediate horizon looks hot for central Oklahoma, with a 10-day extended forecast calling for temperatures at or near 100 with no significant chance for rain.
“They say El Niño is coming and that will bring rain to this part of the United States, but those rains may not come until the first of the year,” Jensen said.
Source: nondoc.com